AKRON, OHIO — Gerry Faust is not accustomed to playing the role of ''Dear Abby.'' He did, however, offer some advice last spring to Lou Holtz, his successor as coach at Notre Dame.

''I told him to win three of his first four games,'' Faust said.

''He's an old pro. He's been through it. I think that's an advantage he's got over me. And I think he knows what to do to make things work. But he's got to understand: Even if he wins, there's going to be people who are going to be critical.

''You need a thick hide for this job.''

Gerry Faust speaks from experience. When he was turning out national powerhouses at Moeller High School in Cincinnati, he always dreamed about coaching at Notre Dame. And when Dan Devine resigned in 1980, Faust suddenly had his chance.

Faust spent five years trying to wake up the echoes in South Bend, Ind. His efforts produced a record of 30-26-1. At Notre Dame, mediocre just won't do.

''When I started out, I was 2-5 and they were saying, 'Aw, he's a high school coach.' Right away,'' Faust said. ''We needed to have a great year to get out of it, and we never had one. We got off on the wrong foot and never recovered.''

Last Nov. 26, Faust resigned from his dream job to become part of someone else's fantasy. He was hired by the University of Akron less than a month later to put some zap into the Zips, a Division I-AA program with designs on going big time.

Faust has coached only one game here so far -- a 35-0 victory over tiny Salem (W. Va.) College last weekend -- but already there has been talk of an eventual series against Ohio State. There is also talk about eventually increasing the size of the Rubber Bowl from 35,000 to 60,000 and enclosing it with a dome.

But most of the talk has centered on Faust.

That is what Akron's ambitious president, Dr. William Muse, and Athletic Director Dave Adams were hoping for when they signed Faust to a 5-year deal worth $135,000 a year, with perks included. Muse, who came to Akron two years ago from football-conscious Texas A&M, figured Faust was worth the gamble in terms of the national publicity he could generate for a nondescript 26,000- student commuter school that is scheduled to move up to I-A next season.

The Zips need seven games against major college opponents to qualify for Division I-A. They already have locked in Temple, Louisville, Oregon State, Kent State, Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan and supposedly are talking with Rutgers.

''We don't want to be just another Division I school,'' Faust said. ''We want to be a prominent Division I school. A power. It's got potential because of its location -- a football hotbed. This is a sleeping giant.

''We're not going to get everything done overnight. It will take a lot of work, some luck, some gambling. ''

Akron aggressively pursued Faust, who had received nine solid coaching offers. The search committee offered him a base salary of $70,000, which was only $20,000 less than Muse was making. They also offered to double staff salaries from $213,000 to $415,000 and sweetened the deal by throwing in a new dorm, locker room and practice facility.

It was all part of a master plan, initiated by Adams, who had convinced Muse the previous spring the school should move up to Division I-A and strongly suggested hiring a new coach.

''In my mind, I-AA is a no-man's land,'' Adams said. ''We were putting almost I-A money into the porgram, but weren't getting any returns at all. Even if we won the I-AA national championship, you really didn't get any national recognition for that. Who won the I-AA championship last year? Nobody knows.

''With I-A, we had a chance for TV, bowl games, recognition. For a little extra, we could try the big time or drop back to II or III. I felt, if we were going to make a change, it was time to make a change in coaches. Even though I hadn't seen a season, I didn't feel previous coach Jim Dennison had the personal charisma to gain the national attention.''

Adams even had the name of a candidate.

''Gerry Faust,'' he said. ''I felt he would be available unless Notre Dame won the national championship, which was highly unlikely with their schedule. He's from Ohio. He had won four state championships in the Rubber Bowl, and there was a lot of positive feeling toward him in this area.''

Faust told Muse he was interested in the job, but stressed he would not take it if it meant moving Dennison, a popular coach who led Akron to an 8-4 record and a berth in the Division I-AA playoffs last year, into an administrative position he didn't want.

''It was a bad scene,'' Faust said. ''I told them I wouldn't take the job unless he went up on his own. When I talked with them, they told me last year he applied for the job as AD, and they didn't want a combination at the time. He said, 'I'd coach one more year and then give it up.' So they were under that assumption and so was I.

''When I told them I was interested, they said they would talk to Dennison the next day.''